Less Than Human
by Three roads
Summary: All he had ever known was a life of a slave, but that was all about to change with the entrance of one Fisher Tiger. All the blond haired boy had ever wanted was a glimpse of freedom, but what would happen if he got something more than that. Join Naruto as he stirs up the One Piece world while struggling to get a grip on his tragic past.
1. first glimpse of freedom

**Less Than Human**

Edited: 29/08/14 due to looking through the one piece timeline and recognizing that the buster call at Ohara happened much before the events below. Naruto will be Ace's age.

_Alright, so here's my attempt at a Naruto/One Piece crossover. Hope you enjoy._

_P.S. Naruto's heritage will be known later in the story._

Chapter 1: The first glimpse of freedom

Screams radiated off the walls of his cell, signifying the successful torture of an unfortunate soul. Two hands clamped themselves over the ears of a child as he unsuccessfully tried to block it all out. Even after years of the same exact screams, the small boy could never get used to the pure emotion that rattled out of them. Almost like a guttural echo of defeat sounded out, constantly reminding him that there was no hope of escape.

But then, this was all he had ever known. He had only heard stories of a life outside of the cold walls that surrounded him. Stories that made him dream of a better life, one full of love and comfort, one where he could decide what he wanted to do… one where he was considered human.

Scratching the very mark that 'branded' him as less than human, the boy struggled to keep the tears of agony in. If there was one thing the boy would never give to his captors, one thing that he would hold onto and keep him 'human' it would be his strength. Not once, that he could remember had he cried in the presence of anyone else. He had to be strong… for it was all he had.

Spikey blond hair rolled over his face as he tilted it down so that the steel bars in front of him could not see his pain. Lonely was the boy as he kept to his cell, for this was his cell and no one else's. He did not know whether or not every slave had their own cell, nor did he really care, all it meant to him was that it made it easier for him to hide his ever growing pain.

For the few times he was let out of his cell to do labor, he would always cover his face with a fake smile as his deep blue eyes guarded his damaged soul from anyone who bothered to check. His human-made whisker marks would be seen as the slavers would laugh while the slaves looked at him with worry. Never did the boy see pity in the eyes of the other slaves though, and for that he was thankful… they were all in this hell together, he didn't need their pity.

A soft wind blew down the corridor as it whistled and waned against the wall that surrounded him. It seemed it was one of those rear times that the guards had decided that they should actually feed him. The creak of his cell doors caused the blonde to raise his face with that ever fake smile adorned. This did not deter the slaver at all as he had seen this smile many times before.

"You know, some day I'm gonna wipe that smile away… and I'll tell you now. I'm going to enjoy every second of it." The slaver stated as he threw a molded up piece of bread at the boy before shoveling a gallon of murky water down the blonde's throat causing the boy to choke and sputter. A sadistic grin formed on the man's cruel face as he laughed at the tortured boy before finally allowing the boy to hack up most of the water he had been 'given'.

"… I'll see you in a few hours for work" The slaver stated before he left with another cruel laugh emitting from his lips.

As the boy got himself back together he wondered what sort of labor he would be made to do today. It was unlikely that he would be working directly for a 'world noble' as they tended to be more involved with the female gender of slaves than the male… It disgusted the boy, who like most of the male slaves, were left in the 'caring' hands of the slavers who worked under the 'world nobles' like dogs waiting for their treats.

Still, they had just finished making a 50 feet tall statue that was over 100 tonnes for the illustrious 'saint' Jalmack. The boy could not believe that the 'world nobles' had the audacity to call themselves saints but knew not to speak up of it as it would surely result in a punishment of some kind. There was no need to give them an 'excuse' for torture after all.

Even so, the boy quickly escaped from his wondering by allowing his fantasies to take over… what, he may be strong, but he's seven god damn it… or something around seven at least. The boy never had known his age, or name for that matter. Only ever being called 'boy', 'slave', 'scum', or his favorite 'lowly commoner'. Still, it was better than some others he knew and he was content, he didn't need a name to be strong.

He often daydreamed like this in order to escape from it all, as he imagined a life full of adventure, saving damsels in distress and most of all… having a family. For that was his one true wish. It did not matter if they were in the slums, or even if they did not like him that much. All he wanted was that familiar bond that he had seen between some of the slaves. That will to protect your kin until your dying breath. That was his one true wish.

The banging of doors awoke the boy from his daydreaming as he began to stand in preparation to be 'escorted' to his labor for the afternoon.

However it was with a shocked expression that the boy looked upon not a guard or slaver… but the biggest fish man he had ever seen. Being a slave himself, the boy had seen many fish men in his life, but by far this was the biggest one he had ever seen.

Standing at a height of 10'3" the fish man had round eyes, salmon-pink coloured skin, a flat nose, wide lips with slight peach fuzz, a thick dark beard and side burns. A spiky dorsal fin shot out of the back of his head, sprouting from under his long, curly hair. He had a broad and muscular physique, with his long legs being quite thin in comparison. A branded sun stood out on the middle of the fish man's chest.

As if that wasn't scary enough, the guy seemed to be carrying a pistol in one hand and a huge sword in the other… was that a bazooka on his back.

The boy now feared for his life as he crept back into the corner of his cell and tried to stay hidden in the shadows. It was not to be, as the boy heard his cell door opening as the hulking figure made its way inside. Seeing the boy in the state that he was, the fish man quickly put down his large sword and leant down to his level before whispering.

"Greetings little one, I'm here to set you free… if you could only tell me the layout of this land" The boy then looked up suddenly as he heard the word free. A fleeting glimpse of hope gathered in the boy as he told himself that he had never seen a fish man who was in charge of the slaves and therefore he could trust this man.

Allowing hope to enter his heart the boy quickly nodded his head before replying in a dry horsed voice that spoke of his pain.

"The fish men are kept that way – while pointing left – and the mermaids – points forward – are kept over there. The human men are kept over there – point's right – and the human women – points in front of him once more – are kept with the mermaids."

The fish man nodded his head in thanks before asking for the boy's name. When he was told that the boy didn't have one he snarled before offering his own. The fish man went by the name of Fisher Tiger and apparently he was here to save all of the slaves… even the humans.

Telling the boy to head east towards the easiest escape route, the fish man quickly re-gathered him after noting that the boy did not know what east was and so resorted to pointing behind the boy in the direction away from everything else. He told him that there were multiple ships waiting to set sail and that he should climb aboard and wait for more people before he set sail. He then left the cell while setting the small amount of other prisoner in this block.

The boy had always been honorable however when someone (a slave) had helped him in the past, he would make sure to do anything in his power to help them back. It wouldn't be any different with this fish man as the boy silently followed him while all the other slaves quietly ran in the direction of the boats that would lead them to freedom.

Making sure his footsteps could not be heard, the boy followed the gigantic fish man as he stealthily made his way about freeing the slaves of this cell block. Roughly one hundred other slaves existed in this block and they were all male children of ages anywhere between three and ten. All of the boys were soon gone and heading toward the east exit and the boats where they would wait for the older slaves to come along and help them escape.

Next, the Fishman made his way to the right in order to free the human males first. As much as he wished to free his people first, he knew that they could swim to safety while the humans could not. And so to give the humans the best chance at surviving, he first went to where the blond boy had pointed the male humans were not realizing he was being followed.

The blond boy continued to follow the hulking fish man as he wondered why he would head to the humans first… did he have something against his own kind or something. Then suddenly the boy was faced with seeing the large fish man kill many of the slavers guarding the human men with only his sword while he kept his pistol ready but unused. The blond could acknowledge that he didn't want to raise alarm yet and the male prisoners were smart enough to realize this fact to as they remained quiet and even distracted the guards to make it easier for the fish man.

As soon as they were free they followed their saviors instructions and made their way towards the east exit and their escape, all the while not noticing the hidden boy as they passed him.

Continuing to follow Fisher Tiger, the blonde boy noticed that he then headed across the slave encampment, towards the male fish men. The blond then watched Tiger do much the same to the slavers again while telling the fish men to escape through the east exit which connected to the sea and headed out into the grand line.

While most of the fish men heeded what he had to say and took off to their freedom, many others took up arms alongside the fish man who was to become a legend in order to help him with the final area of enslavement that would surely be the most difficult of all.

Still not noticing the hidden blond boy, the fish men made their way to their final target and were all disgusted by what they saw. Numerous woman crying out for help or just shaking in complete shock as the slavers had their way with them while the little girls watched on in terror hoping that they wouldn't be next. It was with no regret that the fish men came down on the slavers as they freed the woman of both human and mermaid species.

Once again sending the slaves on their way, Tiger rejoiced in just how easy it was. However it was not to be as a hidden slaver managed to pull down a lever that sounded the alarm and caused the marines to come running. It was now that the true fighting began.

Tiger immediately told the fish men to guard the woman with all their might as they ran to the safety of the eastern escape route. Taking off, Tiger made sure that no one was left behind as he took the tail end along with many of the other fish men in order to fend off the advancing marines.

Shoots were fired as the marines closed in. Tiger luck ran out as he noticed a man by the name of Vergo leading the marines to intercept the escaping slaves.

Standing at 6'8" Vergo was remarkably tall for a human. He was a fair-skinned, lean, yet muscular man with short dark hair, a beard, sideburns, and sunglasses. From his sideburns on, his facial hair grew horizontally. On his cheek it grew downwards with a pointed end. In terms of cloths, the man wore a marine coat over top a white business suit.

This man was a Vice Admiral and would definitely be no easy beat for the captain of the Sunny Pirates, but he was up for the challenge if it meant that the rest of the slaves would be able to escape.

Telling the others to keep going and make sure that everyone had a ride out, Tiger stopped in his tracks as he prepared himself for what would surely be the hardest fought battle of his life. Little did the adventurer know that one blond boy was still watching on from the side-line as he hoped he would be able to repay the man who had set him free.

The Marines all stopped their advancing as they came across a lesser known pirate. This man did not even have a bounty, but everyone save a few knew who he was. Even those that didn't know him however could sense his overwhelming power as everyone was quickly told to stay out of Vergo's way as it would be a one on one fight.

No one could see a reason to argue with the giant of a man as the two behemoths of strength took up their chosen fighting stances and prepared for the following onslaught that was about to occur. A blond child looked out from behind a nearby wall as he hoped that his savoir would win, for he knew he held no hope against the powerful looking Vice Admiral.

Silence permitted the area as not a sound was made nor a movement felt. Like a drop of a hat it started. The two beasts charged at each other to fast for the audience of marines and a boy to follow as they merrily saw the two take off and heard the collisions as craters seemed to form from every time they meet.

Coming to a stop once more, a thin stream of blood was seen dribbling down from the lips of Fisher Tiger which made the Marines cheer. What they didn't notice however was the sudden lean their leader had as he now favored his left leg. The blond boy stood mesmerized at the pure power that the two opposing forces were able to throw at each other and wondered to himself if he could one day be that strong.

Continuing to watch the battle, the boy was surprised to see Tiger hold the Vice Admiral at bay for a whole half an hour. Surely all the slaves would be on boats and drifting away by now. Still, Tiger fought on in order to give the slaves as much time as possible but Vergo and the Marines were beginning to get agitated as time continued on.

Both fighters were now severely fatigued as they had continued fighting for a long period of time and wanted it to be over before they were too tired to leave if they were the victor. It was with tried nods that the two communicated with each other that the next attack would be their final in this battle.

Everyone could feel the tension in the air as the two prepared themselves before suddenly yelling out the names of their techniques with all of their strength and will.

"**Nanasenmaigawara Mawashigeri**" (seven thousand tile roundhouse kick) Yelled Tiger.

"**Oni Take**" (Demon Bamboo) Yelled Vergo.

The two techniques resulted in a huge clash of pure power that created a massive crater beneath the two fighters as both the marines and the blond haired boy were sent flying backwards. After recovering from being blasted away both parties made their way back to the crater as they tried to look through the dust cloud that had arisen to see who had come out the victor.

As the dust began to clear, a coughing was heard coming from the crater. Soon it was seen that it was in fact Tiger who was coughing out blood while he stood above a barely conscious Vergo who was using his last ounces of strength to listen to the powerful pirate who he had been defeated by.

"Be happy that I leave you alive today scum, as even though you are strong, you use that strength for the wrong reasons. To think that a man would protect the 'world nobles' while his own kind is enslaved by them… you are a disgrace to your people Vergo and lucky to be left alive."

Vergo allowed the punishing words to enter his mind as he acknowledged their truth… but did not care as he put on a fake look of regret as he internally complimented himself on his ability to deceive those around him.

Tiger turned his body away from the giant of a man and the other marines expecting to be able to leave after defeating the leader. In reality that fight had hurt him more than he let on as he didn't think he would be strong enough to even defeat the lowly marines that stood outside of the crater.

Vergo's defeated eyes looked back up to the marines under his control, only to widen in surprise as his second in command was aiming his gun at the pirates back. A Marine by the name of Lieutenant Nezumi (that rat-faced guy from the Arlong park ark), he probably thought he could advance significantly in rank if he took down the 'freer of the slaves'.

Vergo tried to sound out a warning to the pirate who had defeated him so that rat faced man could not take the credit and advance while only truly defeating an opponent that he weakened to the point of him barely being able to stand. He found he couldn't however as he was too fatigued from his battle with the fish man. He was still surprised by what happened next however.

As the bullet sounded off, Tiger turned to see a bullet heading straight for him as he cursed himself for believing that humans could have any sense of honour. He hung his head in resignation as he knew he was not strong enough to move out of the way. How could he die like this… it was pathetic.

He waited for the bullet to slice through him and end his days and flinched when he heard the sound of bullet meeting flesh but stood fast in his confusion in the lack of pain. Was it over that quick?

But no, it wasn't over that quick as the bullet had never made it to its intended target. No, instead as Tiger opened his eyes he let a gasp escape his lips that matched that of the Marines that saw what had happened including Vergo. It seemed the blond boy who he had first set free had sacrificed himself in order to save the fish man from his fate.

Jumping in front of the bullet at the last second, the boy had felt an enormous amount of pain streak through him as the bullet lodged itself inside his body. Blood escaped his lips in the form of a cough as his limp body fell to the ground, unable to hold itself up any longer.

As Tiger looked down at the puny human child that had saved his life he couldn't for the life of him figure out why and so he asked the child that very question.

"Why… Why did you save me?" The boy just grinned in the face of death as another splotch of blood escaped his mouth before he responded in a remarkably strong voice given the situation.

"… B..Be…Because you gave me a glimpse" the boy responded. However this answer only served to confuse both Tiger and the Marines further as Tiger once again found himself asking the blonde boy a question.

"A glimpse of what?" This question however only made the grin on the boy's face grow wider as he answered loud enough for the very heaven to hear.

"A glimpse of… FREEDOM"

Chapter end

You know, when I was writing this I was thinking about what powers I could give Naruto and wondered if I should give him a devil fruit power or not and I suddenly wondered just how funny it would be to receive a zoan devil fruit that allowed you to transform into a fish.

But in all seriousness, I am open to ideas about his powers.

Naruto will be about Ace's age due to the one piece timeline

I am open to any and all questions you have to ask and please remember to…

**R&R**


	2. Freedom at last

_Just to let you know, even though I'm not sure on the pairing just yet… it will only be a single pairing – meaning no harem. I am open to suggestion about who that one person could be however._

**Chapter 2****:** Freedom at last

Fisher Tiger continued to look down at the boy that had saved his life in complete and utter shock. He had never met a being so honour bound that he would sacrifice himself for a person he didn't know just because he gave him a glimpse of freedom. Sure a lot of the fish men slaves had helped him after he had rescued them, but that was done as a group and only showed courage and not true honour… to think he is human.

This boy in front of him who he knew did not even have a name, he was something special. He would not let him die; he would save the life of this human even if he died in doing so. It was all he could do for the boy who had saved his life.

Seeing that the Marines were all still shocked at the events that took place, Tiger quickly made haste in picking the boy up before running away as fast as he could towards the east exit. The Marines re-gathered themselves quickly however, and began firing on the escaping pirate. It was not to be however as Tiger managed to push himself harder now that he had someone else's life to protect. He flew along at a pace someone in his condition should have no hope of achieving, as he made his way to the eastern exit.

Smiling to himself as he made it to the shoreline as he noticed his ship waiting for him just a little way out. Soon he would re-join his crew, the Sunny Pirates. Turning over onto his back, Tiger clutched the dying boy to his chest as he propelled himself towards his ship at a pace no human could ever hope to achieve. Finally arriving at his ship he was greeted by the cheering of his crew, however that cheering soon morphed into confused looks that Tiger paid no mind to.

No, he was looking for one person in particular on his ship. That person was known as Aladdin and was the doctor of his crew. Standing at a tall height the goats beard brotula merman was muscular and broad in his appearance. He had slanted thin eyes, dark hair tied back into a ponytail and a full beard of the same colour. His long tail is light-brown in the upper part, but gets darker near the fins, where spots start to appear, eventually becoming a plain dark colour.

Wearing a long, open dark vest with the crews jolly roger on the back while carrying round a trident as a weapon of choice he has the Sun Pirates' tattoo on the left side of his stomach that covered his previous slave mark.

This was the only man that Tiger could trust the boy's life to as he made his way over to him. Placing the boy in the doctor's hands he made his intentions clear.

"Save the boy" Those three words shocked his crew as they couldn't believe that he was ordering the crews doctor to save a human.

"But what about your own injuries Tiger?" the doctor asked his captain in an attempt to speak some sense into him. Tiger just grunted in response however as he replied

"They can wait, now save the boy" before he turned away from the crew and headed towards his quarters while telling his crew to set sail with haste.

_Next morning_

The boy awoke with bleary eyes as he tried to remember what had happened to him before he had lost consciousness. It hit him like a tonne of bricks as he suddenly remembered his body moving on its own as he charged in front of the fish man who had freed him in order for him to save the man from a bullet.

Hearing a giggling sound from above, his head immediately shot up, only to come clashing back down in a sea of pain. Noting that the giggling from before had become a pained groan instead the boy quickly opened his eyes to see what had happened.

When he did, he quickly took notice of the room he was in as it seemed to sway and move about. It was easily the best looking room the boy had ever seen as it expanded out over twice the width his cell had done. Instead of steel bars and stone walls, the blond was able to identify the material of use to be wood. What surprised the boy the most however was how his arse felt.

So soft was the surface he was laying on that he did not know a way to describe it. It was almost like he was lying on top of one of the fatter slaves and for some reason that slave's stomach had become significantly flatter. Not knowing what to do, the boy just decided to lie back down and snuggle up to the soft 'thing' underneath him.

This was until he heard the giggling start up again along with a much deeper laugh that accompanied it. Allowing an annoyed snarl to cover his face, the boy looked up to see one of the strangest sights he had seen to date.

Sitting on a chair was the very same fish man that he had saved… Fisher Tiger and in front of him was a girl that he had never seen before. They were both laughing at him together… a fish man and human laughing together was something he had never before seen.

After a while however it began to piss the boy off as his face scrunched up into one of frustration as he took their laughing as mocking him and quickly set out to change that.

"SHUT UP" this only worked to make the pair laugh harder though as his face was slowly becoming an increasing shade of red. Before the situation could escalate any more however the door was opened as Aladdin entered the room to check up on his patient. The laughing abruptly stopped as the faces of the two jokers quickly entered a mock seriousness as they each failed in their attempt to keep themselves from laughing.

Chuckling at his captain's behaviour the doctor of the Sunny Pirates made his way over to the irate boy who he could see was struggling to remain calm.

"Hello boy, I am a doctor and the one who healed you from your injury… I am just going to do a quick check up on how you are doing; after all you have been out cold for the last couple of days." He got a confused look in return before the boy asked him a question that surprised the doctor.

"…What's a doctor?" Aladdin looked over at Tiger briefly but quickly turned back to the boy once he received a nod and answered the boy although a little uneasily.

"A doctor is someone who cares for the injured" The boy nodded in understanding before he sat up properly and asked a question that made the doctor even more uncomfortable.

"And what is this thing I'm sitting on?" A worried look spread across the doctors face as he told the boy that it was called a bed before he asked the kid for his name, age, and where he was from… surely he would at least know that.

"Don't know" replied the boy as the doctor became exasperated a bit at the response from the boy.

"Do you have a wish of any kind?" Tiger spoke up for the first time. The boy just allowed a huge grin to cross his face as he stated that he wished to be free while also adding in that he wanted to be as strong as Tiger.

The doctor and Tiger laughed and told the boy that he was already free. It took a few seconds for that to fully process in the child's mind as he tried to comprehend what it truly meant. He was free, he had accomplished his one true desire in life… and now he didn't fully know what to do about it. Should he yell and scream in joy or should he smile a genuine smile for a change.

He decided to go for the later but noticed that it was still a forced smile. This was something that the rest of the occupants of the room noticed as well except for the girl who was patiently listening to what was going on. Tiger and Aladdin both looked at each other confused before simultaneously asking the boy what was wrong much to both of their annoyance.

The boy looked at the two fish men in surprise for a moment before he scrunched up his face and said

"I'm trying to smile for real… but it's not working"

Immediately the two fish men were on guard as they took that in but before they could think of anything to say in response the girl giggled loudly and shouted

"That's because you can't force yourself to smile silly" Now it was the boys turn to be on guard as he replied with an uneasy voice.

"Of course you can, I do it all the time" Seeing where this was going the two fish men quickly made to brake the argument before it started as the doctor took the girl out of the room as Tiger remained to talk to the boy. Moments of silence passed by before Tiger asked

"Do you want a name?" The boy thought about this for a while before he decided it would probably be easier to identify himself by a specific name and so nodded his head once to the fish man who made his best 'thinker' impression while trying to think of a name for the boy.

After a while of thinking, Tiger eventually began just rattling off names to the boy.

"Yama, Tom, Hack, Baka, Pisaro." However every name that Tiger suggested received a shake of the head.

"You are as stubborn as a maelstrom… haha that's it, Naruto, we'll call you Naruto." The boy seemed to seriously think about the name and how it sounded for a while before he nodded his head in acceptance with a small smile managing to find its way onto his lips while Tiger grinned.

Tiger then stood up and told the newly named Naruto that he should introduce him to the rest of the crew. So the boy followed him out of the room and toward the main deck of the ship where everyone appeared to be waiting.

Once Tiger was sure he had everyone's attention he introduced Naruto to them all as the human boy who had saved his life. While most of the fish men remained sceptical of such an announcement, after a firm grunt from Tiger the fish men all slowly walked over to introduce themselves to appease their captain.

Leading the pack was a fish man by the name of Jinbe who was followed by the likes of Arlong, Hatchan, Chew, Kuroobi along with many other fish men who were apart of Tigers crew. After that was all done with, Naruto was told to go sit over by the girl who introduced herself as Koala and mentioned about how she was given to the Sunny Pirates in order for her to get home.

Tiger quickly got everyone's attention again as he went on to explain what would be happening next.

"First thing we are going to do is drop Koala off at her home village of Foolshout island. It will take a full three months to reach it with the dial we were given but I made a promise and I shall not brake it." This one statement caused a smile to appear on Koala's face while the majority of the Sunny Pirates groaned in annoyance at what they all thought was a waste of their time. Arlong was at the centre of this brewing annoyance and distaste as he made his opinion known to all that would listen.

"Why are we wasting our time with these puman's when we could be destroying those pathetic marines and taking their place?" His question was quickly answered by Tiger however.

"Because I made a promise, and if I was to go back on that promise then I would be just as bad as those puman's you hate so much." Arlong however just grunted in response before jumping into the water in disgust. Tiger just sighed to himself before walking over to the two human's that would be in their company for at least three months.

"So do you two have any hobbies at all?" Tiger asked and when he received nods from the two former slaves he sighed in relief until Koala told him that hers was cleaning, while Naruto told him that his was building. He promptly sweat dropped along with Aladdin who had been listening in.

"Since you two will be staying with us for a while is there anything you would like to learn?" He received two nods which he smiled at before listening in to what they had to say.

Koala told him that she wished to learn how to defend herself, general knowledge, and to navigate.

Naruto told him the same except that instead of learning how to navigate, he wished to know how to build things which Tiger took as him wanting to learn the art of a shipwright.

"Hmmm… very well, over the next three months I shall teach you both the basics of fish man karate while Aladdin teaches you basic knowledge. As for navigation, I will teach you Koala as I was once an adventurer and so I picked it up myself. Naruto shall be taught the art of a shipwright by Kaneshiro who is this crew's shipwright."

Kaneshiro was a Goldfish fish man, with light pink skin, and two big blue fins on the side of his head. He has kanji tattooed on both his chest and forehead that stand for gold. A sun mark on his left arm signified him as a member of the Sun Pirates. He sports an orange, open shirt, with black circles on it, and white pants with a light purple sash.

Said man was now making his way over to the group with a dispassionate glance towards the 'pumans' as he was called over by Tiger. Stopping at the edge of the group Kaneshiro was informed of his task of teaching the male boy the basics of his craft. Annoyed at the extra work, Kaneshiro grunted before he told the boy to meet with him every day straight after lunch for a couple hours of teaching.

Once Kaneshiro had walked off, Tiger gave his best attempt at a reassuring smile towards Naruto after receiving the reluctant tone from one of his crew members. Still, his crew would come around he was sure.

And so the training began the next day as Naruto and Koala would wake up early and do general chores around the boat at dawn before grabbing only what they needed for breakfast out of habit. They would then head out to the main deck where they were taught the basics of fish man karate by Tiger with the occasional input of Jinbe and some of the other fish men who had taken an interest.

Fish man karate is a martial art that the children were told was practiced by skilled members of the fish men race but should be able to be learnt by humans as well. While deadly enough on land, fish man karate has a number of devastating underwater moves designed to be suitable with the fish men strength and speed.

Therefore the two children would not be able to advance past the basics until they had increased their individual strength and speed to a suitable level.

Mobility underwater would be the children's greatest obstacle when learning fish man karate if they wished to be able to do any of the underwater techniques. Most fish men used their personal adaptions (Such as teeth, horns, or fins) that would be out of reach once again but Tiger had told them that if they wanted it enough that anything was possible.

Fish man karate was measured in levels as the average fish man in the Sun Pirates crew was roughly level 20 at the style while the stronger warriors such as Arlong was roughly level 40, Jinbe was roughly at level 55, and Tiger was somewhere around level 70. Koala pronounce that she would one day become a teacher of fish man karate which would require her to reach at least level 40 which would be a serious accomplishment for a human.

After training the two children would wash themselves in the sea before climbing back aboard and drying themselves off in the sun. A quick lunch sufficed the two as they made sure to clean up after everyone before the two split ways as Koala went to Tiger's quarters to learn navigation, while Naruto went to find Kaneshiro.

Koala was learning much in the way the world behaves in terms of weather and direction as she was taught by Tiger how to navigate the Grand Line. A difficult task if there ever was one but Koala was up for the challenge as she continued to show an interest in the trade.

Naruto was being taught the make-up of the Sun Pirates ship as Kaneshiro taught the boy the basics of how to go about building a boat. Slowly but surely, Naruto was growing on the shipwright of the Sun Pirates as the fish man even found himself enjoying teaching Naruto of his craft. This was especially so because Naruto seemed to take everything in like a sponge.

The two would then join back up again after a quick dinner and clean up for a couple hours with Aladdin to assess their general knowledge or lack thereof in Naruto's case before going to bed.

Much like Kaneshiro, the whole crew found they were becoming more and more appreciative of the human's presence on their ship. Even Arlong could not say they weren't useful… or at least amusing to watch and noted that they barely took up any food or water and were fine with it.

It wasn't until two months into their trip towards Koala's home town that something even remotely interesting happened as the Sun Pirates found themselves under the attack of Rear Admiral Kadar of G-2. When asked to return the slaves, Tiger simply told the man that he had no proof that anyone on his ship was a slave while hiding Naruto and Koala deep within the ship.

The fight was not a long one however as Tiger defeated the Rear Admiral with one swift kick as the rest of his crew made mincemeat out of the rest of the marines. Celebrating their victory with the alcohol they had found on the Marines ship. Even Naruto got drunk off his face in an attempt to impress, much to the amusement of Koala and the crew.

After that incident however, Tiger became aware of the fact that Koala and Naruto could still be proved as slaves due to their branded marks. To solve this problem, Tiger held another meeting where he directly brought this topic up with his crew and asked if they believed it would be a good idea to cover the slave marks with their own.

Most of the crew agreed with this mentality and soon it was decided that the two children were to be branded as members of the Sun Pirates rather than Slave of the 'world nobles'. Koala would be first as she prepared herself for the pain that was sure to come as the brand was aimed at her upper back where her slave mark had been placed.

After the deed was done, Aladdin looked her over and treated her wound so that nothing bad would happen.

Next was Naruto but instead of showing Tiger his chest where his slave mark was, he turned around so that his back was to the fish man. When asked why he had done this he told the fish men that he wished to keep the mark as a reminder to himself to always be thankful for his freedom and that there was always others out there going through what he had in the past.

The fish men took this in stride with smirks on their faces as the acknowledged the kid's strength and will to do what was right. Tiger then branded Naruto with the mark of the Sun Pirates at the top half of his back.

After all that was done, a secondary celebration was had in honour of the first humans to wear the Sun Pirates mark. This time, Naruto decided not to make a fool of himself and instead headed to bed early along with Koala in order to give the fish men their privacy.

A month later and the crew was closing in on Koala's home island and everyone was feeling sad that she would be leaving but knew her family missed her as well. Over the course of the three months the two children had advanced faster than anyone could have anticipated.

Koala's fish man karate had jumped from level 1 up to a lower level 5 while out of water and level 2 within. It would certainly be a struggle for her to upgrade her underwater techniques due to being a human but she would not let that crush her dream of being a teacher of the art. Her general knowledge was back up to scratch in most areas which she was proud of as well. However it was her advancement in navigation that truly showed the most improvement as Tiger was even allowing her to navigate the final week of their journey due to his confidence.

Naruto had improved much as well however as his fish man karate had jumped from level 1 to level 7 on land while managing level 3 underwater. His general knowledge came slowly but surely as he was beginning to understand most things while the occasional bit of trivia would get passed him. His shipwright ability had improved much as well as Kaneshiro was proud of his first apprentice who now knew everything there was to know about the Sun Pirate's boat. He had recently been learning the more physical aspects of being a shipwright as he began putting his knowledge into practice and was so far doing quite well for himself.

Still all things have to come to an end and it seems that it would be the end of Koala's time aboard the Sun Pirates ship.

Little did the Pirates know that wouldn't be the only thing ending on the shores of Foolshout Island.

_Chapter end_

_Hope you enjoyed the second chapter_

_Happy to answer any questions or queries so remember to…_

**R&R**


	3. The death of adventure, The rise of hope

_I forgot to mention this earlier, but I don't own anything to do with Naruto or One Piece_

_Lower levels of fishman karate are unmeasurably easier to advance when compared to the latter level which is why Naruto and Koala progressed so far so quickly._

_In terms of shipwright ability, Naruto only learned theory and has just started on practical stuff which I personally think is fair enough in terms of advancement._

**Chapter 3****:** Betrayals And New Beginnings

Arriving at Foolshout Island, the crew went about their teary farewell of Koala before Tiger took her by the hand and led her back to her village and family.

As he did so, the rest of his crew (including Naruto) hanged about in preparation to disembark on their next journey. While they weren't sure what that journey was yet they were all hoping it would be more exciting than the last one. Naruto was disheartened that his sparring partner and the only other human on the ship was leaving but he had made the decision to repay his captains training and time with his services.

It had been announced to the crew the night before to mixed mash of reactions as many fishmen groaned or even glared at thin air. Some however, such as Jinbe and Kaneshiro had allowed small smiles to cross their faces as it was announced that Naruto would be their new 'cabin boy' from then on.

Still, Naruto was a little unsure if he had made the right choice; after all he was the only human on the crew and definitely knew it due to certain crew 'mates'. He could have just gone with Koala and started an easy life with own kind and it probably would be a happy one to… But then again Naruto didn't believe he was capable of an easy life anymore.

Besides, he already had some ideas for his future and to complete them he would have to be strong which made his choice to stay with the sun pirates all the easier. He had decided to himself that he wanted to go far in this world through his own hard work and determination.

He had decided that he wished to become a symbol…

A symbol of hope.

He had spent a lot of time thinking on what he wished to do in this world, but when it came down to it, his answer was a simple one. He wished to make sure that what he had seen, heard, felt, smelt and even tasted at Mariejois would never happen to someone again as long as he is living and able to stop it.

He had decided that it didn't matter the race, sex, or even past as Naruto was convinced that no one deserved the hell that being a slave was. But he was not yet strong enough to accomplish such a task and would first need to train. Train hard and long enough to be able to best any foe he would ever come across… to be able to best and Admiral.

Back to the ship

As the crew of Sunny pirates went about preparing to set out again they found themselves quickly finished and decided to muck around and generally laze about. That was until roughly 30 minutes after Tiger had left, as a noise that sent a chill down every Sunny pirate's back sounded out. It was a gunshot… and it had come from the direction of the village.

Trepidation ran through the Sunny pirates as they suddenly worried for their captain's life, however they soon had their own issues to deal with as a cannon ball was seen coming towards them. Before anyone had time to get over their shock of being under attack the cannon ball had already smashed a hole through the hull of the ship.

Regretfully the Sunny pirates found themselves having to abandon ship and all jumped into the water. Even Naruto found himself jumping into the water so that he would not be such an easy target. Hiding in the shallows, Naruto witnessed many of his crew mates being shot down in the chaos before Jinbe was able to gain control and organize a more strategized plan of attack.

Using their superior strength and speed in the water, the Sunny pirate's heavy hitters broke the moment of silence that had followed Jinbe taking control as they burst out of the water. Moving quickly, they ran straight for their enemy as they successfully distracted the marines from the fishmen who were tasked with quietly flanking the enemy,

The heavy hitters were able to hold their own as their tougher skin and bodies were able to repel most of the bullets with only heavy bruising forming as a result. Still, even they could not go on forever with hundreds of bullets raining down own them and it was with a sigh of thankfulness that the flankers had finally sprung their trap by closing in on the unsuspecting marines.

Leading the flankers was none other than Arlong who allowed a viscous grin to shoot across his face as he beheaded one of the marines with a saw like sword. The battle was over in a matter of minutes as the number of marines dwindled down from 30 to 0. Quickly taking charge once more, Arlong ordered the Sunny pirates to search the coast line so that they could take the Marines ship.

Meanwhile Jinbe and Naruto found themselves running towards the village and hopefully their still alive captain. It was ten minutes later that the two finally came across a barely standing Tiger who was surrounded by body after body of marines. What amazed the two further was that there was still another 20 or so marines surrounding the captain.

Jinbe instantly recognized the leading officer as Rear Admiral Strawberry who was standing behind his troops as they surrounded Tiger.

Strawberry was a tall, straight shaped person with a long beard. At that moment his eyes were only half open which angered both Jinbe and Naruto greatly. He wore a long bearskin version of the standard marine uniform cap due to his head being abnormally long. Like many high ranking marines, he had a standard marines coat draped over his shoulder like a cape. Under it, and over a shirt left unbuttoned at the neck, he wore a green jacket and matching pants.

Naruto then shouted out to his day old captain, but it proved to be a rookie's mistake as when Tiger turned to see who had called his name he was shot in the back again. Time seemed to instantly slow down for Naruto as he saw his savior fall to the ground. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he instantly blamed himself for Tigers death.

Looking up from the dirt once more, Naruto was surprised to find everything still moving in slow motion. Focusing on what was around him, he noticed Jinbe run towards the marines with a murderous look streaking across his face. Quickly growing embarrassed at his own self-pity session, he stood up once more as time returned to normal pace for the blond.

Noticing that Jinbe seemed to be distracting the marines, Naruto quietly but quickly made his way over to the downed form of Tiger. Sighing in relief that the fishman was still breathing, a renewed hope rushed through his very being. Still, Naruto had a long way to go and Tiger was no lightweight.

It was with an intense struggle that Naruto was able to drag Tiger's upper body onto his back before he began trudging towards the shoreline with Tigers legs dragging behind him. The ten minute sprint from before became a test of Naruto's will power and determination as he trusted the marines to jinbe.

One step after another took Naruto closer and closer to his goal. Ten minutes past but it felt like an hour… an hour of almost no progress as far as Naruto could tell. Still, the man on his back had done so much for him and he was not about to dishonor that.

It was another twenty minute before Naruto came across the remains of battle that he and Jinbe had left behind and he was shocked at the amount of blood that entrenched the sand. His bare feet quickly became bloody as he treaded across the battlefield in an effort to find where his crew had gone. He knew they had won the fight as it was clear as daylight due to the mass of human bodies and lack of fishman bodies that filtered the land where he stood.

Lowering Tiger to the ground in a spot clear of blood, he gulped in massive breaths as he took a moment of rest. Looking across at Tiger, Naruto could see that the man was struggling to stay alive as his breathing was erratic and he was shaking. It was not long before Naruto decided that he had had enough rest and began heaving Tiger back onto his back to travel across the shoreline where he could see the direction his crew mates had gone.

Just before he got Tiger on his back however, he heard the padding of footsteps coming from behind him and so quickly placed the fishman back on the ground once more. Looking over to where the sound had come from, Naruto was a little scared to find three fully grown marines staring down at him.

He may have been training for the last three months, but that was nothing compared to how long the men in front of him had been training for. That coupled with the natural strength difference that came from being fully matured versus a child who hadn't even begun to mature.

Still, he had a captain to keep safe and he would sooner die than dishonor that fact. Setting himself up in a defensive stance that Tiger had taught him, he tried to stay light on his feet but was still a little tired from dragging his captain for so long. This caused the holes in his stance to increase further but his determination and will to win did not falter.

The marines were a little surprised when they noticed that the boy was going defend the dying fishman. The three of them were the only ones to escape Jinbe's wrath before Strawberry could step in to battle and take on the whale shark-man with orders that they retrieve Tiger's body and take it to the ship.

When they had looked over and seen that Tiger's body was no longer were it had been they were shocked. Then seeing the tracks and remembering the boy who had so helpfully distracted their target they couldn't believe what must have happened.

Now standing in front of the boy once more they still couldn't quite believe what they were seeing. A human boy that was prepared to save a fishman at the risk of his own life was a site none of them had or ever thought they were going to see. Then their sight turned to his bare chest and recognized the symbol that made the boy in front of them 'less than human'.

A feeling of guilt and understanding quickly ran over the three marines as they acknowledged the honor that the kid in front of them must possess. Still, they had a job they had to do and as sad as it sounded, they weren't going to hand in their resignations for a random kid.

Naruto felt the hairs raise on the back of his neck as his nervousness skyrocketed out of proportion. He wasn't ready for something like this, facing off against three marines on the first real day as a cabin boy was definitely not in the job description. He may have said that he would sooner die than hand over Tiger but dammit that didn't mean he had a death wish.

Naruto knew that his only hope of victory was if the marines in front of him severely underestimated him. He was down on his luck however as due to the state of their previous brethren lying all around them, they wished to end the fight as quickly as possible and get out of there. He couldn't really blame them as it was exactly what he would be doing in their shoes… but it still pissed him off as his chances of survival (alive with freedom intact) were decreasing by the second.

The middle man, who appeared to be the leader of the three, pulled out his sword while the other two pulled out a flintlock each. No chances were to be taken in this 'battle' if you could even call it that. As they all closed in on the blond, he noticed that his body was twitching unconsciously as he had to mentally tell his body not to lash out just yet.

As far as he was concerned there were two options that had little to no chance of succeeding. One was to lower his own guard in the hopes that they would drop theirs as well before trying a surprise attack, or he could just straight up go for a hay-maker on the first guy and hope to hell the other two somehow shot each other in confusion… in other words, he was screwed.

However, as if god himself was smiling down on the boy he found the answer to his problem in the form of a now decapitated marine… it seemed that Arlong had returned. No sooner had the first fell than the others followed as their bodies fell to the ground as if god were playing human dominoes.

Naruto was no stranger to death, what with being a slave for his whole life and all, but that didn't mean that he enjoyed the sight of three recently decapitated humans. He certainly didn't like the smell either though it was the blood that was flicked onto his chest that freaked him out the most. When he looked up at Arlong however, he realized that his own body looked like a saints… scratch that… a holy… no… noble… you get the point.

He looked very good compared to the monster that stood before him.

Covered from head to toe in the blood of his enemies, Arlong stood straight and proud of what he had done like it was some kind of achievement. Looking down at the frightened boy in front of him Arlong smiled a toothy grin… a very sharp toothy grin which only served to frighten the boy further.

The monster of a fishman moved his vision to the figure lying behind the boy though and he quickly lost that grin. Pushing the boy aside with enough force to send him careening head first in to the sand a few meters away.

"What happened to him?" the sawshark-man yelled in a demanding voice that showed his desperation. Getting up as quickly as possible Naruto was about to respond when he was interrupted by a voice behind him.

"He was shot in the back" explained Jinbe in a clear voice. He stood now behind Naruto and was in a state similar to Arlong in appearance. In fact he might have had a speck more blood on him than Arlong did and if it were in any other circumstance the boy was sure that Arlong would have laughed about finally influencing Jinbe. But now was not the time for jokes.

Arlong quickly took hold of Tiger before he hoisted onto his back as began his sprint across the beach in the direction that Naruto guessed their ride out of here was anchored. Naruto then found himself hoisted up by Jinbe… However, unlike Tiger who was being carried over the shoulder of Arlong, Naruto was being carried bridal style by Jinbe.

Oh the shame.

But Naruto would grit his teeth and endure the torment if it meant that Tiger could be saved. It wasn't long until the group of four had made it to their destination. And what a destination it was.

A marine ship that was easily 2 times as big as the Sunny pirates previous one.

As soon as they arrived they were surrounded by the crew, a crew that was soon disbursed by Aladdin as he quickly took Tiger from Arlong and raced him to the medical bay. The whole crew soon followed but were all forced to stay outside the room so that the crews doctor could work his magic. Jinbe soon ordered some of the lower ranking fishmen to hoist the anchor and set the sails as they did not want to be around if any reinforcements showed up.

It was hours later that the crew were allowed in to the medical bay to see their captain and they were all shocked by what they saw. It looked as if Tiger were on his deathbed as his breath was still erratic and his whole body was still shaking slightly. The only difference from before was that Tiger was now awake.

Gathering round their captain the Sunny pirates all listened in to what he had to say, and to say they were all surprised would be an understatement. It turned out that Tiger really was on his deathbed as he refused to have any blood transfusion where the blood was tainted with humanity's hatred for fishmen.

His whole crew yelled and screamed for him to get the transfusion anyway but their captain was stubborn with his choice and would not budge to even Naruto who was evidence to Humanity's hope. That very thought made Tiger smile as he looked down at the boy who had been in his life for three months now and had yet somehow already found a place in the captain's heart.

Tiger then went on to explain to his crew of his origins and how he had been a slave before forming his crew and the Sunny pirates symbol was created to cover his original mark. He then went on to explain how he could not seem to find a way to forgive humanity as only a few humans seemed to have an element of care to them with Koala and Naruto not being enough.

He told his crew however to believe in Otohime's views and even admitted that he was slightly regretful for making it harder on her by becoming such a renowned pirate and freeing the slaves.

He then told them that none of what he had said was to leave the room and that even the way he died should not be said to anyone else. His crew could not help but cry at the loss of what many of them viewed as a kind of messiah.

Before he passed however, he spoke to Naruto personally as he asked the boy what his dreams were. When Naruto told him that he wished to become a symbol of hope for all slaves and people no matter the race, sex, or past he got a large smile in response. Tiger then told him that if he didn't achieve that goal before he died then he would be dishonoring his name.

This got Naruto's attention as the boy was all about honor to the point where some would call him stupid. After nodding his head in acceptance of this, Tiger smirked before he told the crew that he was just going to rest his eyes. As he closed them for the last time he heard the firm voice of Aladdin telling him how he had truly been a hero that would go down in history.

And with that, Fisher Tiger died with a content smile covering his face.

Chapter End

_Alright, hope you enjoyed chapter three of 'Less Than Human'._

_In terms of where this story is heading, I am still deciding if Naruto should become a pirate, Revolutionist or something else altogether in order to become a symbol of hope so I was hoping to get some advice from the readers._

_Make sure to…_

**R&R**


	4. Sunny Pirates disbanded?

_Time skip warning… sort of anyway. _

_The beginning of this chapter is 12 years before the One Piece storyline begins. Naruto is currently 8 years old making him twenty when the storyline begins. He is the same age as Ace. _

**Chapter 4:** **Sunny Pirates disbanded?**

Floor boards creaked as muffled footsteps were heard coming from the hallways. Sunken faces told a story of depression and disbelief. It had been a month since Tigers death but it still remained at the forefront of everyone's minds.

Arlong hadn't been seen for weeks and it didn't come as to much of a shock to the crew when they finally got notice that the fish man was now serving time in impel down. Apparently the rage filled fish man had gone back to teach the villagers of Foolshout Island a lesson for their betrayal, only to be defeated by a vice admiral who went by the name Borsalino.

This news certainly didn't help the already depressed fish men in their conquest for a meaning. Even Jinbe wasn't his normal self, holing up in his new room as captain and only making the most basic of commands for 'his' crew. Perhaps the most effected however, was none other than the resident cabin boy, Naruto.

Even though Naruto had only known Tiger for a short while, the relationship he had formed with the fish man had been his strongest as it resembled that of a fatherly/son bond. Even though the boy had been strong as Tiger had died, it did not mean that he copped well afterwards. As soon as Tiger had taken his last breath Naruto had broken down into tears with the only one willing to comfort him was Jinbe.

That attitude had continued over the last month, for the short amount of time Naruto spent outside of his room he noticed an understandable amount of reserved hatred projected in his direction. He knew that the only thing holding most of the crew from harming him was the fact that it wouldn't have been what Tiger would've wanted.

He understood though, they had only ever been betrayed by human's in the past… after all it led to their captains death… their brother's death. A hero like Tiger just didn't come around that often and Naruto was able to acknowledge and deal with the hate directed at him, it wasn't as if he hadn't done it before.

Still, he had never dealt with losing someone close to him before and it was slowly tearing him apart. The guilt for not being able to change Tiger's mind about using human blood for a transfusion, the hate of his own race for their betrayal, but most of all he felt an overwhelming sense of sorrow. A hole in his heart that could never be refilled… it was safe to say that the boy did not want to feel like this ever again.

He had two options

First, he could block everyone and everything out and become an emotionless person whose only reason to exist was to keep his promise…

Or he could grow strong enough to prevent this from ever happening to those close to his heart that he would surely gain in the future.

His choice in the end was decided by his promise to Tiger… how could he become a symbol for hope and freedom if he himself wasn't free? Cause to Naruto, blocking off your emotions was like trapping yourself in your own body.

So now he had decided that he was going to become strong enough to protect all those that held a place in his heart, all he had to do now was become strong… easy right? Wrong! If he truly wished to become strong enough to protect all that he loved while also becoming a symbol of hope, he would have to be strong enough to take on the strongest people in the world.

With all that in mind Naruto made his way towards the captain's quarters in order to talk to Jinbe about the continuation of his training. It was bad enough that he had already wasted a month away already; he certainly wasn't going to allow himself to waste away any more time.

As he walked down the hallway he could feel the hatred that seeped out of the fish men that he had passed, he wondered where Kaneshiro was as he hadn't seen the man in a month. Coming up to the door he gave three firm knock's on the door before standing back as he heard a rustling coming from behind the door.

After a minute of waiting Naruto found himself becoming agitated as he waited for Jinbe to get off his lazy ass and open the door. Just as he was about to knock again, the door was pulled open to reveal Jinbe in all his… glory? Standing in front of Naruto, the Whale shark fish man looked as though he had just woken up from a month long sleep… and he smelled like it to.

Pinching his nose shut, Naruto made his way into the room against his better judgement. Taking a seat in one of the chairs positioned in front of the desk that was off to the side, he waited for Jinbe to sit down in the captain's chair only to see him sit in the chair next to his. Sighing as he understood what was going on immediately Naruto turned to face the hulking figure as he started the conversation.

"You're in the wrong seat" Blunt as it was, it got his point across to the 'captain' of the sunny pirates. A worn out sigh escaped the fish man's lips as he tiredly made his way around the desk in order to take a seat in the captain's chair. Even then it took a stern glare from the cabin boy for the captain to actually sit down.

"What do you want to talk about?" asked Jinbe in an effort to get the meeting over with as quickly as possible so he could get back to… moping over the loss of his brother? Man he was depressing. Naruto in turn looked straight into the eyes of his captain as he asked the question that he had come here to ask.

"When does my training start up again?" Now that got Jinbe choking on air. Whatever Naruto had wanted to talk about, Jinbe would've never have guessed it be this. Even so, the captain couldn't stop a grin that ran across his face as he marvelled at the character that Naruto held inside his small body… well small to a whale shark anyway.

"As soon as this meeting ends" Jinbe responded as he allowed his grin to grow into a full blown smirk as he thought this would be the perfect way to get the crew back to the way they used to be. Naruto in turn allowed his own grin as he was happy that his own training would begin so shortly.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Naruto asked his captain before he got up from his chair and headed to the door while Jinbe began to follow after the boy.

Everyone's eyes were drawn to the pair as they made their way to the front deck were they would continue Naruto's training from where he left off. It was with slow realisation that all the fish men recognised what was going on and when they finally did they found their looks of scorn turn into grins of their own. Shifted was the overall tone of the ship as many of the crew men jumped into the water while some set about training themselves around the pair that started it.

Laughter and smiles soon replaced the gloom that had taken hold of the crew as they slowly became themselves once again.

And just like that everything slowly went back to normal… well as normal as it could be without Tiger and Arlong there though several people would argue that the loss of Arlong wasn't a bad thing. Still, smiles and laughter had returned to the sunny pirates as Jinbe finally took his new role seriously as he now captained the ship with a practiced ease that he had gained as first mate.

Naruto had finally caught up with Kaneshiro again who admitted that he had been avoiding the boy as he dealt with his own demons after the death of Tiger. After that, he soon went back to apprenticing under the man to learn more about becoming a shipwright as a skill that would benefit him in the future.

Alongside getting back into his fish man karate and shipwright trainings, Naruto also started up his general knowledge again with Aladdin while also asking the man for basic first aid knowledge. Aladdin was all too happy to teach the boy some of what he knew about the fine art of healing and soon Naruto was on his way to becoming a well-rounded individual.

Little did he know of the many trials he would face when growing up.

xX- Time skip 2 years –Xx

Just over two years had passed since Tigers death and a lot of things had taken place since that fateful day. Naruto was now ten years of age and had improved by leaps and bounds when it came to his abilities. Progressing to level 16 in fish man karate when out of water, Naruto was now considered to be strong enough outside of water that he would have been a weaker one of the crew.

Inside of water Naruto was only at level 9 which disappointed him greatly but he was happy with his progress as a swimmer. Whenever he had spare time, Naruto had spent it in the water in an attempt to become a better swimmer than any human had before and learn how to hold his breath for longer.

Due to this the boy had come away with a swimmers body that was beginning to tone even at his young age due to all the training he did and stood at a height of 4'6". Just above the average for his age. Still, his physical aspects weren't the only things that had improved as Naruto was proud of both his general knowledge and improvements in first aid and shipwright ability.

A lot had happened outside of Naruto's improvement in the last two years however, and not all for the better either. The first thing that the crew did after Jinbe finally took over was to head back to fish man island… they may have stirred a little bit of trouble on the way in the form of freeing some slaves.

That was a story for another time however as they lent their ship out to the mermaids and fish men that they had saved since they were on their way to fish man island anyway. Naruto had been left in awe at all the different sceneries that he experienced as cabin boy for the sunny pirates. That was something else that Naruto noticed, the confused stares that he would receive from all the fish men and woman when they saw him or learnt that he was a part of the crew.

He didn't mind though, it was just more people to prove himself to.

Preparing the boat to dive under the sea and towards Fish Man Island was another amazing experience that Naruto had as he meet with some old man named Silvers Rayleigh. The old fart had practically radiated power and when Naruto had asked him if he had completed his dream he had laughed and told him that he had but every day was still new.

Revitalised by the experience Naruto told the man of his own dream to which the old man had laughed at which made Naruto mad but he was quietened by a raised hand from the old man.

"HAHAHA… to be young again, perhaps you should place a D. in your name with a dream like that. Still, I can't say that I would be sorry if you somehow complete such a dream…" By the end of Silvers speech both of them had a wistful smile on their faces. It had truly been a talk that Naruto would remember for a long time.

It hadn't taken long after that for the Sunny Pirates to reach Fish Man Island and man was it a sight to see. Naruto certainly hadn't seen anything more beautiful in his life.

"It never get any less special" Aladdin whispered to himself as he looked upon his home while a fond smile formed on his face.

And truly it was as Naruto noticed the pure life that it exuded out; it was truly a sight he would never forget. Naruto got the same confused looks from earlier as he was seen walking with the Sunny Pirates crew as they went through Fish Man Island towards the palace. He took it all in stride however, fully expecting it due to earlier experiences.

It was when the people of Fish Man Island noticed that Fisher Tiger didn't seem to be among that the Sunny Pirates suddenly became more and more reclusive and quickened their pace. This worried the people a bit but they were all confident that Tiger was just doing something else at that time. Naruto couldn't believe the size of the palace or the fact that he was going to be allowed to enter as one of the Sunny Pirates.

If Naruto had been driven to awe at the outside of the palace, then he was catatonic at seeing the interior and had to be pushed along by Aladdin who chuckled softly at the awestruck boy. The boy soon moved after some more pushing from the crews doctor but at a sedate pace as he tiptoed the whole way, afraid to break anything so delicate looking. The crew members that saw this just laughed to themselves before moving on.

Arriving at the throne room Naruto almost fell over in amazement again but this time it wasn't because of the building that he was in. It was the pure size of the King and who he presumed was the Princess since she was a lot younger looking and prior knowledge about the family that he received from Jinbe.

Lining up in front of the royal family the Sunny Pirates all bowed in greeting as the King looked on with a critical eye. Seeing a human boy had certainly surprised him but the greater question that he needed to ask was about the whereabouts of one Fisher Tiger.

"Where is Tiger?" Was a simple question that had unspeakable consequences as Jinbe stepped forward to address the King as the new Captain.

"Tiger is no longer among us" Jinbe paused to allow everyone in the room to take that in before he continued, hoping that this wouldn't be blown out of proportion.

"In saving so many slaves Tiger was taken down in an ambush by an army of marines while giving us all the time we needed to escape" Only allowing half the truth to be known to the public while he would tell his King and Queen the full truth in a more private setting.

The news rattled the room as a gasp escaped everyone that hadn't previously known about Tigers death and Naruto was subjected to just how much Tiger meant to the people of Fish Man Island. The princess young as was (about 4 years old) even began crying although was quickly subdued by her mother and three brothers.

The room was silent after that for quite some time and Naruto soon began to fidget at the growing tension that the silence was emanating. About to something stupid, Naruto was glad when Jinbe spoke up once more.

"We lost twelve men including Tiger over our last journey but we also gained one in return" Jinbe stated as he looked over in Naruto's direction with a smile on his face that only grew at the site of Naruto's bewildered one. Meanwhile Naruto was cursing Jinbe for planting everyone's attention on him.

Seeing no way out of it Naruto stepped forward and did his own individual bow towards the royal family. After which he stood tall and waited to be addressed only to blink suddenly when he noticed everyone's much more relaxed visages as some even began to chuckle quietly… had he done something wrong.

"Be at ease young one" King Neptune said with a wide smile that reflected his amusement at the boy. Doing as he was told, Naruto relaxed his shoulders as a calmer air filled the room as the royal family inspected the boy. It made Naruto very uncomfortable but he managed to consciously hold himself back from fidgeting under the many gazes.

"And what brings a human boy such as you to Fish Man Island?" Neptune asked as everyone leaned into hear his answer, even his crew mates were interested in what he would say. Naruto then looked up directly into the eye of the King of the Ryugu kingdom as he replied.

"To repay a debt to a man who had become the closest thing I have ever had to a father" Now that got surprised looks from everyone in the room as not even Jinbe or Kaneshiro knew of how Naruto truly thought of their ex-captain. Taking a proper look at the boy, everyone noticed "the hoof of the soaring dragon" which told them that he was seen as less than human… A slave owned by the world government. Tears once again escaped the princess's eyes as she saw the easily identifiable mark on his chest.

Naruto then did a slow 360 to show everyone in the room his Sunny Pirates mark that he had emblazoned on his back.

"I have become the cabin boy of the Sunny pirates in order to pay back the person who gave me my freedom as well as to become strong in order to follow through on my promise with said man." Naruto said after he had completed his 360 which got everyone in the room curious and caused the Queen, Otohime to ask the question that everyone seemed to want to ask.

"And what was that promise?" To everyone's surprise Naruto just smirked demonically before he answered the question in a confident voice full of belief.

"I promised to become a symbol of hope and freedom to every slave on this planet. No matter their race, sex, or past I promised Tiger that I would save them and abolish slavery at its core so that it would never return."

A stunned silence echoed throughout the palace as everyone couldn't help but catch their breath in surprise as they couldn't believe what the boy had just said. Whether it was that they couldn't believe that he had said such a dream out loud and publically or that they just couldn't wrap their heads around a kid aspiring for such a goal.

Still, he was currently in the kingdom which arguably got the shortest stick when it came to slavery and as a result no one would even think about notifying anyone about such a dream. It definitely had their hearts pumping as they looked down at the confident boy in front of them. Eyes that held no doubt stared back at anyone who dared search them for any.

"HO-HO-HO-HO… That's quite the dream you have their boy, I welcome you into my kingdom fair cabin boy" (That is King Neptune's unique laugh) Neptune voiced loudly as the meeting soon turned into a feast in celebration for the return of the Sunny Pirates to their home.

It was roughly a year after that though that the biggest changes had occurred.

It all started when Jinbe was messaged a letter from the world government which asked him if he wished to be a Shichibukai which Jinbe immediately took to the King and Queen. After multiple days of discussion with the King and Queen, Jinbe made his choice to become a Shichibukai public knowledge. This ultimately led to multiple sides forming within the Sunny Pirates crew and with the return of Arlong.

It seemed that when Jinbe had sent his approval of becoming a Shichibukai that Arlong had been freed from Impel Down. This led to the Sunny Pirates braking into three different groups as Arlong disagreed with Jinbe's decision even if it freed him from prison. Most of the crew ended up taking Arlong's side due simply to the dislike they felt for becoming 'government dogs'.

Of a crew of 50 fish men strong 35 went with Arlong, Three went off to become the Macro Pirates while the remaining 12 stayed with Jinbe. However, the brake up did not go without violence as viscous words turned into punches of pure wrath. In the end Jinbe was victorious as he knocked Arlong clean off his feet.

Arlong was then picked up and dragged away by what would become the Arlong Pirates as they soon left Fish Man Island to go do whatever they wished. Letting them go would forever be Jinbe's greatest regret. Soon after the Macro Pirates made their exit on much more peaceful terms and just like that the Sunny Pirates had fell to pieces.

It only continued to get worse as the remaining crew members got tired of doing nothing due to Jinbe's role as a Shichibukai restricting them. This lead to a majority of the crew reverting to soldiers in Neptune's army and soon even Aladdin and Kaneshiro left the crew. Aladdin to become a doctor for the merfolk and Kaneshiro joined the shipwrights of Fish Man Island once more.

Naruto became the final member of Jinbe's crew but even he was a loose member as he spent much of his time still with Kaneshiro and Aladdin in order to keep practiced and well-rounded. Still, the training that Jinbe was giving him was invaluable.

This all led to where Naruto was now at ten years old, he still had a long way to go but through all the trials so far his determination hadn't withered once. He was prepared to go the distance to accomplish his dream.

Still, many storms were to come including one that would shake the very foundation of Fish Man Island and force Naruto to leave the Island that had become his home.

_Chapter End_

_Kaneshiro decided to stay due to Naruto's influence._

_Hope you enjoyed the chapter; the next one should be interesting… I wonder if any of you know what that one storm will be._

_Pairing is still open but I have decided what Naruto's powers will be and you'll just have to wait and see on that end._

_Happy to answer any questions or queries so remember to…_

**R&R**


	5. The beginning of something new

_Remember that Naruto was only ten after the time skip… he isn't going to be a powerhouse yet._

_Every meeting has meaning or some kind of future relevance, keep that in mind. _

**Chapter 5:**** The sting of betrayal**

The following months passed like a blur for Naruto as he found himself constantly moving in-between Jinbe, Kaneshiro, and Aladdin for their respective trainings. Life became a routine for the blond as he slowly went about making himself stronger.

That was until about two months after the brake up of the Sunny pirates.

Naruto had been making his way towards the shipyard for the afternoon to learn more about being a shipwright when he heard a scream in the distance. Looking around, he noticed that no one seemed to have heard it and kept going on about their day. Striking it up to his own imagination, the blond started to make his way to the shipyard once more.

It was not to be however, as Naruto heard the scream for help again although this time it seemed to come from the recesses of his mind. A sudden pain drove through the boys mind as Naruto's body began to move on its own. His hands shot up to his head in a pointless effort to relieve himself of the constant voice screaming in his head.

When his body stopped, he looked up and much to his disgust found a mermaid being dragged across the ground by her hair in the direction of a cage where another three mermaids were held. Seeing that it was a human pirate who was doing this only ticked the boy off more as he quickly hid behind a conveniently placed barrel as he made a plan of action.

There was no way in hell that he was going to allow these mermaids to become slaves of the world government. Taking a closer look, Naruto noticed that he was in a back alley behind an abandoned store of some kind which gave him the knowledge that they were in the outskirts of Fishman Island. Eight pirates were gathered around the cage that the mermaids were held in as they looked hungrily upon the mermaids inside.

Just as Naruto was about to move in while they were distracted, he was forced to stop all movement as another pirate came into view. This pirate however, had an aura of command around him and must have been the captain of the slaver pirate crew.

The man was tall and muscular, standing just over six foot. White dreadlocks fell over a wide, tanned face. He was wearing an indigo singlet which showed off his hulking arms, black pants, and a headband with his jolly roger (a hung man on a red background) on it in a repeating pattern.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the man's appearance was the intricately designed tattoo that covered the whole of his left arm. It was a unique looking tattoo which was a mixture of red and white markings alongside a few skulls.

"Touch them and it's coming out of your pay check boys… you know the difference in pricing for a parted and un-parted mermaid is" the man called out to his men when he noticed the hungry look in their eye… not that he could blame them as the mermaids were quite the catch. 'On second thought, he was sure the auction house wouldn't know the difference' the pirate captain thought with a smirk as he licked his lips.

Seeing his men back off he smiled at his own authority before he made his way over to 'inspect' his catch. Before he could get very far though, he was stopped by an angry voice speaking out from behind him.

"Let those ladies go" Naruto shouted as he stepped out from behind his hiding spot. The pirates all suddenly look worried at the prospect of being caught while the mermaids allowed hope to re-enter their beings… that was until they all faced the voice and saw a ten year old boy.

The mermaids heads dropped in defeat once more while the pirates all let out a sigh of relief with some of them going so far as to laugh cruelly at the boys prior outburst. Turning around fully to face the kid the captain decided to amuse him.

"Oh and what would a kid like you do if I don't" the man asked as he finally took notice of the mark on the boys chest.

"Kill you" Silence reigned over the alley as everyone tried to wrap their heads around a kid sounding so serious while taking about death like that… before many of the pirates began laughing again which broke away the tension. Naruto however wasn't fazed by the laughter at all as he kept his unnerving stare on the captain of the pirate crew.

"HOW DARE YOU… you dare mock me child, the captain of the Dread pirates, the 'executioner' Roshio **(1)** who has gained a bounty of 7,000,000 berries due to the lives I've ended. What would a little slave like you ever hope to do to me" The now named Roshio yelled with contempt at this petulant child in front of him. He was tired of playing around with the kid and wanted to end this quickly.

"7,000,000 eh, that's cute… my captain had a bounty of 250,000,000 berries before he became a Shichibukai." Naruto stated in a cold voice that was devoid of anything but determination and a will to succeed. The mermaid's eyes lit up in revitalised hope as they now recognised who the boy in front of them was the last member of the Sunny Pirates… maybe he could call for Jinbe.

That bit of passage only served to get Roshio pissed off as he immediately ordered his men to rip the boy's heart out and bring it to him. Charging forward as they were commanded, the pirates did not expect for Naruto to start running at them to. Seconds later and the distance closed between Naruto and the first pirate who chose to swing his sword wildly in an attempt to cut the boy to pieces.

Unfortunately for him however, Naruto saw the move coming from a mile away and was easily able to adjust his body so that it would dodge the strike. Following that up, the blond let out a roar as he punched the man in the stomach as hard as he could which caused the man to crumble into himself on the ground. Naruto did much the same with his next three opponents, the only differences being the places he struck with the last one being unlucky enough to receive an uppercut which knocked him out cold.

The last four lackeys had learnt from their peers mistakes however and decided to completely surround the boy with swords all pointed inward. All the while Roshio just stood there getting progressively angrier as his men lost to a mere boy.

Continuing to creep in closer to the boy, the pirates became more and more confident in themselves as they saw the boy was doing nothing in retaliation. That was until they reach a perimeter of about a metre around the boy when the blond suddenly burst towards his right and the most relaxed of the pirates that had encircled him.

Hitting the flat of the sword with his hand so that the sword was pushed away, Naruto proceeded to raise the elbow of the same arm that knocked away the sword into the pirates gut. As the pirate fell forward Naruto twisted his body so that he was behind the now bent over pirate before he launched himself into low kick that took the legs out from under the pirate.

By now the three other lackeys had finally registered what had happened and decided to charge at the blond blindly. A couple of haymakers and a chop to a neck later Naruto was the only one left standing from the eight on one match-up.

Suddenly Naruto's senses went haywire in an attempt to get him to move out of the way of a punch that very well might have ended the match before it had even started. Just managing to escape the sneak attack, Naruto quickly increased the distance between him and his last opponent. A tense silence rolled through the alley as the two opponents prepared to do battle.

The four mermaids in their cage stood on edge as they waited for the deciding battle to begin. It would decide their freedom.

Slight nods of the heads caused the two warriors to charge at one another with fist raised high in preparation for the first clash. And clash they did as every punch, kick or point of contact resulted in pressurised air being released due to the strength of the strikes.

Punch after punch and kick after kick were thrown in quick concession as both pirates attempted to outdo the other. The mermaids could only stand there in anticipation as they watched their fates play out before their eyes.

Naruto used his agility and smaller size to dodge Roshio's heavy blows at the last moment before capitalising on the captains open guard. Striking as fast and as powerfully as he could the blond was annoyed to find his punches did little to no effect to the behemoth of a man who seemed to take it all in stride. Still, he would not give up as he had four mermaids to save from a fate worse than death.

As the fight went on Naruto found it easier and easier to dodge Roshio, much to the man's annoyance, but it wasn't because Roshio was getting slower. It was more like Naruto could sense what the man was going to do next and react accordingly…

Panting to himself Naruto was surprised to see that Roshio hardly looked like he had moved a muscle, let alone be in the middle of a serious fight. This fact pissed Naruto off to no end but the boy knew that he could not lose himself to that anger as it would only lead to mistakes. He also knew however that he would have to settle this fast before he became too tired to use a move strong enough to take this man down.

Looking across at Roshio, he quickly realised that the man was of the same mind as he borrowed a sword from one of his underlings before setting up in a stance that Naruto had never seen before. Deciding that being outdone in this kind of situation would be a bad thing, Naruto set about getting into his stance as the two pirates prepared themselves for their final attack.

**"****Wanto Giri (Arm Blade Slash)****"** Naruto shouted as he ran full force at his opponent.

**"****Saishu-tekina jikko (Final Execution)****"** Roshio yelled in turn as he to raced towards his sword held low.

A loud clash sounded out as the mermaids looked on with feeling of trepidation. A cloud dust had covered their view of what had happened and a few of them were even blowing at the air to try and get it to go away faster. Eventually it did and the Mermaids gasped at what they saw.

Standing a few metres apart with their backs facing each other, the two warriors stood with steely resolves as they waited for the sound of the other failing over in defeat.

Suddenly a huge gush of blood streamed out of Naruto chest from a cut that went from the boy's right shoulder all the way across his chest to his left hip which forced the boy down to one knee. He would go no further. Just as the mermaids bowed their heads in defeat however, they were shocked by the loud thump that came from Roshio as he landed face first into the dirt.

Smiles broke out across the faces of all the mermaids as they cheered for their savoir. Naruto then slowly made his way over to where the key were left before with the last of his strength he threw them to the mermaids just before he promptly fell unconscious.

Quickly freeing themselves, the four mermaids ran **(2)** over to the boy and checked his pulse and were happy to see that he really was only unconscious. Picking the boy up, one of the mermaids giggled a little before she told the other mermaids

"Ohhhh, we just have to introduce this little hero to our daughters." This caused all the other mermaids to join in on her giggling at the prospects of setting their daughters up with such a strong warrior. After a few minutes of just letting their imaginations run wild they finally left the alley in the direction of Aladdin's hospital.

**xX – Next Morning – Xx **

A feeling of déjà vu coursed through Naruto as he woke up with bleary eyes and a pain streaked body. Looking around he saw the familiar interior of Aladdin's hospital and slowly began to remember how he ended up where he was. He could only guess that the mermaids he had saved had been thankful enough to drop him off at the hospital after he collapsed unconscious.

The sound of multiple giggles drew the boy's attention. A weird feeling came over him as he suddenly 'knew' that there were eleven other people in the room at that moment. Confused, he suddenly rose to a sitting position which produced a pain throughout his entire body.

Looking around however he grew an embarrassed blush at how close he now was to four mermaids who appeared to be his age. Of course this just caused the girls to giggle harder as their mothers did the same from behind who the blond recognized as the mermaids he had saved.

Looking off to his left, he saw Jinbe, Aladdin, and Kaneshiro all looking down at him with grins on their faces as they held back their own laughs. A pout formed on Naruto's face which quickly disappeared once he realised that instead of causing the females in the room to giggle at him it now caused them to coo. Just as Naruto was about to speak up, he found himself interrupted as all the girls in front of him suddenly introduced themselves… at the same exact time.

"Hi I'm Adele/Ishilly/Fillonce/Keimi." The for girls in front of him yelled out, seemingly all trying to introduce themselves to Naruto first and causing their mothers to all giggle some more as Naruto was driven to silence. After a few moment of gathering himself however, Naruto soon answered them with his own introduction.

"Hey… I'm Naruto." Okay so it was a little lack luster… he had only just woken up after a serious fight god dammit. Turning to his left and facing Jinbe he asked his mentor

"What happened to the pirates" to which Jinbe told him that the pirates had been detained to a cell and would be picked up by Marines shortly. Looking for something else to talk about as the air around the blond slowly became thick with awkwardness, Naruto eventually remembered just how he had 'found' the four mermaids in the beginning and decided to talk to Jinbe about it.

After telling the whale shark fishman about how he had heard voices in his head before his body moved on its own until he arrived at the alley. He then told him about the strange ability he had when fighting Roshio where he felt that he could almost predict what Roshio was going to do next. And finally Naruto decided to tell all those listening about how he could sense them all before seeing them when he woke up.

Staying quiet throughout the whole of Naruto's retelling of events of the last day or so, Jinbe finally answered Naruto.

"What you are experiencing Naruto, is an ability called haki that everyone has the ability to use but only few to a level such as yourself. There are three forms of haki and the one you have experienced over the last day is called Kenbunshoku Haki and is the ability to sense the auras of people around you. This can also help you predict the moves of your enemies as you experienced with Roshio"

Finished with his explanation Jinbe looked upon his unofficial 'apprentice' of sorts with pride over what he had been able to accomplish. Naruto then looked down at his bandaged chest and stomach as he remembered the final strike that Roshio had landed on him. As if reading the boys thoughts, Aladdin stepped forward and spoke up for the first time.

"Unfortunately I wasn't able to prevent scaring but you have healed up fine enough and should be able to walk around however, no training for the next week understand." Naruto was quick to nod in response as over the time he had spent learning from Aladdin Naruto had been taught the importance of resting one's body properly.

Although this doesn't mean he liked it and he made that plain to see with his facial expressions. This however got a cheer from the four girls who were sitting on the bed in front of him as they immediately asked if he would like to go and play with them. This left Naruto unsure as he hadn't really 'played' with anyone except Koala and that had been years ago now. It was only after a nudge on the shoulder from Kaneshiro who was looking down at him suggestively that his answer became clear.

Nodding his head to the girls, he grimaced slightly at their high pitched cheer but followed them out the door all the same.

Running along behind the girls Naruto wondered where they were going but decided that it wasn't all that important as the girls all continued to run towards a playground in the distance. The rest of the day was spent full of laughter and joy as the five children had the time of their lives as they played with each other, until they were each called in by their parents. Jinbe had even come to pick Naruto up, much to the boy's surprise.

Still, the five all promised to meet there again the next day and just like that Naruto started to form his first group of friends.

**Chapter end**

**(1)1) Roshio is a character from One Piece who appears just before Straw Hats meeting with Bellamy who he is beaten comfortably by.**

**(2)2) Mermaids tail's split when they turn 30 years old**

_This chapter was more to get an understanding of Naruto's growing power and begin to show the bonds he will form on Fishman Island before the event occurs that forces him to leave._

_So yes, Naruto will have Haki but I am unsure whether or not he will have Conqueror's Haki. Pairing is still a mystery but I will say that there will probably be a bit of floating around before Naruto chooses ONE._

_As always, I'm happy to answer any questions so make sure to…_

**R&R**


	6. The sting of betrayal

_Every meeting has meaning or some kind of future relevance, keep that in mind. _

_There is now a poll up on my profile page that will determine the type of pairing for this story so make sure you check that out and vote for your favourite._

**Chapter 6:**** The sting of betrayal**

The last two years had gone by like a blur for the blonde haired twelve year old; I guess it's true what they say about time flying by when you're having fun. Ever since that day, Naruto had begun playing with the children of Fishman Island almost every day in between training and he was enjoying being a kid for the first time in his life.

He still remained very close with Adele, Ishilly, Fillonce, and Keimi but had also managed to make a lot more friends such as Sora, Seira, and Mero… which were all female as well which he was often teased for by Jinbe, Kaneshiro, and even Aladdin. Still, after a year of only playing with girls, Naruto had finally found a male Fishman only a few years older than him that was willing to play with him.

The guy went by the name Namur and was a Shark Fishman that was 14 years of age.

Namur has very sharp, shark-like teeth with three small teeth sticking out from either side of his lower jaw. He also has three pairs of gills on his neck. He is a somewhat short Fishman with a rotund shape. He has his black hair spiked upwards which contrasts greatly with his light blue skin tone. He wore a simple white shirt most of the time which had an opening at the back for his grey shark-fin that protruded from his back. He had on grey shorts and was never seen wearing anything on his feet.

The two boys got on well enough and even trained together in spars and the like after they both found out the other was proficient at fighting.

Everything had been coming together for the boy and he should have known that it would not last. Nothing this good ever did for the boy but he had become complacent in thinking that everything would be alright… how wrong he was.

Over the last two years young Naruto had also managed to create a good image with the people of Fishman Island by saving multiple mermaids and children from being taken into slavery. This had the added effect of helping Otohime get across her ideas of human-Fishman relations and was turning many to her side as they were convinced that at least some humans were nice.

Not everyone liked this however, as a specific group of Fishmen even took great offence to the mere thought of a 'puman' being the protector of Fishman Island. This particular group were all from the Fishman district and had been raised hearing stories of how disgusting 'pumans' were and being told how they were superior to such ilk. Little did they know that they were taking on the same thought process as the world nobles by doing this. Irony; can't get enough of it.

This was a group called New Fishman Pirate and they were only in the beginning stages of being form with their captain being known as Hody Jones. Hody was a great white shark Fishman who was at the age of twenty and had grown up on Arlong's beliefs. Now though he was currently acting as a soldier for Neptune's army in order to gain experience but that was all about to change.

Hody had devised a plan to get rid of bath Naruto and the rising belief in Otohime's dream in one foul sweep… he would even get rid of Otohime altogether. It would happen very soon and at the height of Otohime's dream too.

**xX – Day Otohime's dream becomes a reality twisted by hatred – Xx**

All was well in the world as Otohime went about making another speech about interspecies relations between humans and Merpeople. Seven long years of constant fighting had led to this moment as Otohime was about to ask for the signatures of the people who believed in her dream.

Naruto stood next to his sensei Jinbe as they both watched with grins as the biggest crowd they had ever seen listened attentively to what the Queen had to say. They could not believe the change of view that the merpeople had taken to what Otohime was saying; not even two long years ago she didn't seem to have a single supporter. Otohime was a determined queen however and had kept at it during the last two years.

Perhaps the biggest event outside of Naruto's help was when she had saved the world noble known as Mjosgard from a group of ex-slave mermen who had been imprisoned by him. Naruto had not been there at the time but he was told that it was quite the spectacle.

Apparently the Queen had her arm grazed by a bullet when she pushed the 'noble' out of the way. She had then begun to preach about not passing their hatred down to their children which got a lot of notice until the noble grabbed her from behind and held her at gun point.

The only thing that had saved the situation from spiralling out of control had been the Princess's cry which had somehow summoned Sea kings to their location. The cowardly noble had then passed out merely from the sight of the Sea kings which stopped the troublesome situation from getting any worse.

Naruto often wondered how Shirahoshi had summoned the Sea kings but was never able to find out as whenever he asked, Jinbe always told it was just coincidence.

After that event, Otohime took it a step further and even accompanied the noble back to the 'surface world' where she somehow managed to gain what she called 'the hope of Fishman Island'. This proved to be a letter of peace if she could get enough signatures from her people to show that it was a united appeal for peace.

Today was the day however, that would show just how much the views of the merpeople had changed as Otohime was planning on asking for everyone's signatures after her talk. Today was the day she would gain enough signatures to send back with the letter of peace in order to gain it.

Naruto looked on patiently alongside Jinbe as they waited for history to take its course. When Otohime eventually finished her speech, she immediately began grabbing sheets of paper alongside some soldiers from Neptune's army and distributed them to her people. She then told them what it would mean if they signed the papers and told them to return them straight away when they were done.

At first a cold silence strung throughout the air as everyone looked at the people around them to be the first to sign it. This anxious silence however was destroyed by none other than Jinbe who had grabbed his own piece of paper, signed it, and was currently in the process of handing it to his Queen. The fact that he did this with such incredible obviousness attracted everyone's attention and when they saw the great Jinbe-sama handing in his signed copy, they soon formed a stampede to hand in theirs.

Naruto merely grinned at the sight of all the people desperately trying to hand their signatures in before their friends. It was actually quite amusing to the blonde and the boy was happy to just stand there and watch as the chaos erupted. Standing alone, just behind the mass of people trying to hand in their signatures… it was quite literally the opposite of the red carpet in a way.

This would prove to be mistake number 1.

Even after people had handed in their signatures they still stayed to watch the spectacle in front of them. They just couldn't get of the spirit they were surrounded by; it felt as if nothing could bring them down from this high. But just like all highs, this one was about to be replaced by an all-time low.

When everyone had seemed to turn their heads away from the stack of signatures, fire raged forth from a carefully placed matchstick. Cries and shouts of disbelief rang throughout the air as confusion took its hold. The Queen ran forward towards the signatures against the behest of her husband's soldiers. Attempting to save as many signatures from the fire as possible, not caring if she got burnt… her dream was worth more than her life.

In the pursuing chaos, Naruto spotted a familiar looking man running at him with eyes filled of hatred and revenge. This man had been one of the 'goons' from two years ago… that meant he was a pirate and probably the one that started the fire, he had to stop him.

Just as he was about to charge forward at the pirate something happened that had only previously occurred in the nightmares of the Merpeople… Otohime was shot. Turning to face the downed Queen, he couldn't believe his eyes, she had been so close to completing her dream and just like that it was taken from her.

Feeling something small racing towards him from the direction that the pirate had been running at him from the blonde foolishly turned back around and caught the item in his right hand.

Mistake number 2

Looking down Naruto was shocked to see a gun in his hand but what really got his heart racing was what the pirate yelled out for all to hear.

"GREAT SHOT CAPTAIN, NOW WE CONTINUE SLAVING OFF MERMAIDS FOREVER AND TO THINK ALL WE HAD TO DO WAS LIGHT A SMALL FIRE AND SHOOT A FUCKING MERMAY…" He was cut off from saying the last part by a bullet through his chest but the damage had already been done as the people of Fishman Island all looked at Naruto with the great animosity that he had ever felt in his life.

He couldn't take it he had to get away, he had to run. And run he did as he immediately took off in order to get away from the oppressive aura that his twelve year old body just couldn't take. Not knowing where to go the boy just ran in a random direction as he tried to escape from the pursuing soldiers of Neptune's army. All thoughts left the blonde as instead of using his brain like normal he only relied on his speed to get away from capture.

Thoughts on what had happened could come later when he was safe and away from any oppressive aura, but for now he would run until his feet fell off. And so for the next couple of hours, that's all the boy did, just kept on running until he escaped his capture and then kept on running still until he found himself not able to run any more.

Falling to the ground, Naruto managed to roll over and rest his body against a wall and slowly came back to his senses and gasped as he realised just what had happened. That pirate had framed him, probably in retaliation for what had happened two years ago… Still, Naruto found it hard to come to grips with what had happened.

He had not helped his case by running away and avoiding capture but screw it, he had been confused and put in a tight spot with everyone that he loved glaring bloody murder. He had seen Jinbe's look of betrayal alongside that of Kaneshiro and Aladdin who had also been in the crowd and it broke his heart to think that they thought he was the one who killed Otohime.

He could just not understand why they thought he would do something like that. Why did something like this have to happen to him? Just when things were going right for the boy, everything seemed to be taken away. And at the heart of it he mourned, he mourned his supposed victim and cried over her death. She had been such a gentle and caring person… not one that deserved to die so why? Why did she have to die?

But then he really thought about it and he guessed that people die all the time… and everyone has dreams, not just Otohime, not just him, but everyone. "When one person dies… he/she disappears… Along with his past, current lifestyle and his /her future" **(1)** It is with great yearning the precious people of the deceased that means that person was special. For they wouldn't be special if no one cared for them in some form or another and that was why Naruto was eventually able to smile through the pain of another lost one.

"The bond between the people important to you forms a string that binds them and only becomes thicker and stronger as time goes by. It's beyond reason." **(1) **

Pain was pain however and so it would still take Naruto a long time to get over the death of his Queen but he had to somehow push that aside and deal with another pressing matter. That matter was the framing of himself as the murderer and how he should go about it. He knew that the people of Fishman Island would never forgive him for what they thought he had done and that crushed him.

This place had become his home and he its guardian.

The last thing he wanted to do was leave the first place he had ever been able to truly call home… but what was he to do, he certainly couldn't stay as if he was found now… he would be burnt at the stake first, ask questions later.

But he didn't really have a way off the island either, it wasn't like he could just hold his breath long enough to swim up 10,000 metres to the surface. He was truly at a loss for what he could do and so decided that he would just stay hidden in the abandoned outskirts of Fishman Island until he could think of what he would do next.

**xX – 4 days later – Xx **

Naruto had spent the last few days holed up in one of the abandoned warehouses in the outskirts of Fishman Island while hiding in the shadows every time a patrol came by. It seemed that the soldiers of Neptune's army knew that he couldn't leave so easily as well and were currently scouring Fishman Island in an attempt to find him.

Naruto had only left the safety of his hideout a few times when he decided he needed food or drink… if push came to shove then he wanted to make sure he was ready. On those short, darting trips Naruto had also picked up that Neptune had locked himself up in hard-shell tower immediately after hearing of his wife's death to avoid declaring war with the surface.

After a day of this however, Neptune had finally grown calm enough to address his subjects and told them all that Otohime's funeral would be held in the Sea Forest graveyard in five days' time. That wasn't all that had happened though as Naruto found out that Shirahoshi had been locked up in Hard-shell Tower on the orders of her father. Apparently Vander Decken IX had been sending her proposals that were getting more and more dangerous… whatever that meant and it had forced the king to lock his only daughter away.

She would not even be able to attend her own mother's funeral which struck Naruto a little bit at that fact although he was consoled by the fact that she would be allowed a visual broadcast. Although Naruto himself desperately wished to pay his respects to Otohime he knew that it would only cause pain for people if he showed up. The funeral would most likely be heavily guarded as well which did the boy no favours at all.

He was still trying to come up with an idea that would get him out of there without him being beheaded or burnt at the stake. He thought about contacting Jinbe, Kaneshiro, or Aladdin but the looks on their faces four days ago stopped that thought from going any further. After thinking about it for a while, he began to understand his sensei's faces as they more than likely thought he had completely betrayed them and their trust. Merely using them to make himself stronger before he parted from them with the life of their Queen.

The common folk probably thought that he had only been posing as a 'good guy' to drop their guard against humans and make it an easier job for the slavers in the end. It seemed everyone was blinded from the truth by their own hatred and unwillingness to really think about the situation and its circumstances.

Still, Naruto could not find it in his heart to hate them for it. They were merely angry at what they thought was an ultimate betrayal from their so-called guardian.

That didn't mean that their hate didn't affect the boy as he now had to battle with himself constantly whether or not he should act as the murderer he was seen as or do something else altogether. It took him days of debating before he decided on anything.

In the end however he decided that he would protect them even if they didn't want him to. He would honour his promise to Tiger even if the very people he was fighting for refused him and called him a murderer. But he could not stay in Fishman Island anymore… well at least for a while anyway.

He would have to get stronger first, much stronger. Strong enough that he wouldn't have to worry about getting caught saving the people… even by someone as powerful as Jinbe but that would be hard. Of course it would be, Naruto hadn't the slightest clue how he was supposed to become that strong but he understood that it was what he needed to do in order to be able to protect his home.

His goal was to become strong enough to abolish slavery all together though and so he guessed he had to become even stronger than that if he truly wanted to accomplish that. Though he had honestly forgot largely about his promise to Tiger in the last two years. At first he trained hard and with that clear purpose in mind but the clarity had disappeared along with the addition of friends his own age, he began to have fun and that had distracted him.

In a roundabout way he guessed that this misunderstanding was a blessing in disguise as it made him focus back on his dream. It also made him wonder what his friends thought of him however he quickly threw that thought aside as it would only send him into depression.

Even so, he still had the tough job of getting out of Fishman Island alive and that in itself without help was going to prove one of the hardest things he would ever attempt.

In fact it may well be the hardest thing Naruto ever has to do as due to the fact that the only way off of the Island for Naruto was by ship… and the only ship around that was always prepared was the Sunny Pirate's ship…

He didn't want to steal the ship but it was beginning to look like his only option. He would do it that very day when Otohime's funeral was on distracting everyone away from where the ship was kept… always ready to go anytime the crew needed it. Naruto argued with himself over the fact that he technically hadn't been excommunicated from the crew yet so it wouldn't really be stealing.

And thus a plan was made.

**xX – Day of Otohime's funeral – Xx **

Everything was set for Naruto as he noticed that everyone on Fishman Island had gone to the Queens funeral which pleased the boy for more than one reason. Well everyone except for those in the Fishman District, and the guards watching over Shirahoshi while she was kept in her tower.

Perfect.

The blonde child stealthily made his way towards were the Sunny Pirates ship was positioned ready to take off in a moment's notice. The biggest problem would be the steering after he left the Island but he was sure that he would be able to handle it.

Making sure nobody was around Naruto made his way towards the ship and was surprised that there really was no one around… could it really be this easy. Apparently so as Naruto found himself entering the ship with ease and even set off out of Fishman Island without any commotion whatsoever. Naruto could only feel weird at just how easy it all was, still he had been taught not to look a Seahorse in the mouth…

Running up the same route the boy had come down in back when the Sunny Pirates were still united, Naruto was glad he had paid a lot of attention on the route they had travelled. Naruto had decided that he wasn't nearly ready for the new world and so was making his way back to 'paradise'.

It wasn't long before Naruto was out of sight from Fishman Island and he had to say… he was sort of disappointed as he had figured he would at least be forced into a little scuffle… where was the excitement that he thought would be abundant in his daring escape. He grew so bored that he decided to look around the ship and what he found thoroughly surprised and pleased the boy immensely.

He couldn't believe that he hadn't seen it when he first boarded the ship but a piece of paper was nailed to the ships main mast. Ripping the piece of paper off the mast Naruto was amazed that it was in fact a letter sent to him by Jinbe, Aladdin, and Kaneshiro.

_Dear Naruto,_

_First of all, we would like to say that we are sorry that we ever doubted you. After sitting around talking about it to each other we all came to the same conclusion and that was that you must have been framed. We don't have much time so I'll get straight to it; inside the main desk in the captain's quarters is a present from each of us to help with your training._

_Hope to see you soon,_

_Jinbe, Aladdin, and Kaneshiro_

Reading the letter Naruto felt tears roll down his face as his body uncontrollably convulsed against his will. His sensei's believed in him after all and wished for his safety… It was all going to be worth it… he would become strong and prove to the people that he had been framed.

Heading towards the captains quarters, Naruto still couldn't get over the fact that his senseis believed in him… if they did, then there was always the potential that other did as well. When he arrived at the quarters, he was quick to open the main desk up and find what had been left for him and what a find it was.

Jinbe had left the boy with easy to understand guidelines for Fishman Karate up to level 40 as well as some books on warfare and philosophy to help the boy with his goals and understanding of life.

Aladdin had left him with books on anatomy which could be useful for both medical and fighting reasons as well as a book on poisons and their effects.

Kaneshiro had left Naruto with books retaining all his knowledge on being a shipwright as well as strict instructions for how to run and operate the ship he was currently sailing.

All these presents made Naruto's heart soar with joy and comfort as his ship steadily made its way to the surface. It also had the effect of sparking an increased determination and pride from Naruto as he now felt that he had to accomplish his goals, not just for himself but his loved ones in this world as well.

He would become powerful!

He would become a symbol of hope to all those that had lost it!

**Chapter End**

**(1) ****Iruka quote from Naruto at Saritobi's funeral when Naruto asks why people have to die **

_Really hoped you enjoyed the chapter._

_Make sure you go to my profile and vote for your wanted type of pairing._

_Probably won't be updating again to shortly due to some important exams coming up and me needing to study._

_As always I'm happy to answer any questions you may have so don't be shy and make sure to…_

**R&R **


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